Coconut Spray; The Niugini Experience

Wondering if there are surfable waves someplace you've never visited? Or have you had an injury and want to compare experiences? Do it here!

Moderators: jimmy, collnarra, PeepeelaPew, Butts, Shari, Forum Moderators

rmb
barnacle
Posts: 1261
Joined: Thu May 17, 2012 6:41 pm
Location: Adult Cinema

Re: Cocunut Spray; The Niugini Experience

Post by rmb » Sun Mar 01, 2015 6:17 pm

Looks like a fun wave any barrels in PNG?

Drailed
Huey's Right Hand
Posts: 22917
Joined: Tue Aug 05, 2014 11:07 am

Re: Cocunut Spray; The Niugini Experience

Post by Drailed » Mon Mar 02, 2015 7:23 am

Good story, thanks. Pretty violent culture out there from what I can gather - did you hear about the young couple raped and tortured a couple years back, couple of surfers, shot him with a bow and arrow, tied him to a tree and then raped his mrs in front of him.

Overall how you rate the trip in terms of swell and good winds?
Trev wrote:I have always had a lot of time for Dick
smnmntll wrote:Got one in the mouth once, that was pretty memorable

User avatar
Slowman
regular
Posts: 348
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 4:03 pm
Location: Garie to Voodoo

Re: Cocunut Spray; The Niugini Experience

Post by Slowman » Mon Mar 02, 2015 9:40 am

Drailed wrote:Good story, thanks. Pretty violent culture out there from what I can gather - did you hear about the young couple raped and tortured a couple years back, couple of surfers, shot him with a bow and arrow, tied him to a tree and then raped his mrs in front of him.
I hadn't heard but I have now! Here is the article in the SMH http://www.smh.com.au/world/australian- ... 17v8g.html I might put any surf trips to Madang on hold! That place has become a hot spot due to increasing population and illegal settlers.

Well I'd put it like this; violence is not their natural predisposition, they are naturally happy people. Even though they may be poor by materialistic standards they don't want for much. Heaps of fish, plenty of good fresh food. It is just when there is an altercation it get violent quickly it seems but that depends on just how tribal their lifestyle still is, so it varies. I think on the whole violent means of resolving conflicts is being eliminated as they move from a society based on tribal rule to a national society following the rule of law. They aren't there yet but they are moving there. The question of criminality is a little more complex. As I understand it young men come down from the highlands looking for their fortune in Port Moresby only to find unemployment and without the control of tribal rule imposed by the chief and elders they run amok in gangs answering only to themselves taking what ever they want by force. There's probably some resentment and problems of inequality mixed in there too. As far as I understand it a lot of those problems are in Port Moresby but it isn't like that out in the country regions and the islands away from the big smoke because there isn't that dislocation. I'd still try and avoid getting into a conflict.
Overall how you rate the trip in terms of swell and good winds?
If a good day at home is a 6 I reckon a 6 or 7 out of 10. We surfed every day at least twice, except for the first couple of days we had 3-4' and a couple of days at 4-6' with good winds. It wasn't epic but it was good. The coral reefs here are pretty sharp so it was a good first time to get to know them. With a bit more swell some other options might have been on like this right hander called Long Longs it is 300-400m long! Mostly a fun wave but there is a barreling bowl section for about 50m in the last 100m from what I'm told. There are a few other waves that never lit up. Probably impossible to get them all on the same swell, you probably need different swells. I'm not sure about that this being my first trip there. I'd go back in a heartbeat but for the hassle getting in and out.
Last edited by Slowman on Fri Apr 10, 2015 3:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Slowman
regular
Posts: 348
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 4:03 pm
Location: Garie to Voodoo

Re: Cocunut Spray; The Niugini Experience

Post by Slowman » Mon Mar 02, 2015 12:37 pm

Tuesday morning (day 3) the swell was small and the winds were wrong for Ral again as they had been yesterday, so Lou the camp manager came around at breakfast and said if we wanted to do a road trip we'd leave at 10 he just needed numbers. Apparently the road trip yesterday had been a success. He had actually talked about the breaks yesterday and mentioned this one spot and decribed it as a very short sharp coral reef with a good barrel if you were a good shortboarder. That might have put me off a bit. The young guys had been looked at passed on that, they reckoned it was suicidal, anyway they'd pushed on further south and found a nice lefthander on this reef at 3-4' and had fun waves. They were planning on going further south today to check out this righthander so we would go to the left they surfed yesterday.

The plan was roughly to go back to the main island of Kavieng, go to the markets pick up some water, softdrink, and packets of twisties - the local kids love them! We weren't actually doing much for their health but I guess it's not every day. We went into the main town of Kavieng and it's a little bit like being a celebrity. The majority of locals are all smiles, some are indifferent but there's the odd face you come across that doesn't look so welcoming.
Image

As we rode in the back of the truck we were constantly being waved at by locals and of course we waved back. It's this unabashed innocent charm the PNG people have. They aren't worried about whether it is cool or not to show you their curiosity and interest. The smiling faces everywhere really is refreshing and it's like a tonic for the mind and helps you unwind as you separate out the things that really matter in your life. It's paradoxical that by getting away you are better able to closely and deeply reflect on your own life. It's probably both the time and the different perspective. These are the thoughts I amused myself with between the pot holes, the waves and the roaring wind through the back of the truck while we pelted down the Bulaminski Highway catching glimpses of offshore glassy waves here and there. At first it looked like 2' and then 3' and maybe more, hard to tell when you've never been there and there is no one out. A lot were too straight or too full but it was tantalising and the surf stoke was building.

After about an hour we pulled into an area that looked like a small farm with a collection of huts nearby. The locals seemed to go about their business after our guides exchanged greetings and some small talk I guess. Tok Pisin is the official language in PNG often referred to as Pidgin English. The guides taught us a little but up in Kavieng they have their own language too which sounds a lot like Bahasa. At first I thought they were calling each other ape skins but it was ipskin. I don't know if it's much better, but it means foreskin, in local language aepoo! I heard that word a lot! Seems like a friendly insult, though I wouldn't walk up to a stranger and try it. Anyway, we unloaded the truck down near the beach under the coconut palms and set up camp in the shade. The lefthander out in front looked like a fun glassy 3'. Just a little south of it was a channel and on the side was a fullish right.

There was about a dozen of us and we let the first shift go out and waited a while to let them get a few waves. The Woonona boys were all in their 40s and 50s and really weren't looking for anything other than fun waves and were on a collection of hybrids and long boards. After about an hour I paddled over to the right just to check it out. The first thing I noticed was the water temperature - it was almost a hot bath in the shallows! As I got out into deeper water it cooled down a bit. I paddled across the channel to the right just to try it out, while a lot were full I'd seen the occasional barrel on the inside. I had hoped I might jag a couple. It just didn't happen so I paddled back to the left and joined the queue in the lineup. The left was a decent length ride of about 80m on the bigger ones and every now and then a 4' set would peel through, though it was a bit of wait.

The 3 footers were still plenty of fun too. There were a couple of peaks one out the back and one further along and depending on the angle of the wave it could provide a good section or sometimes close it out or section away from you but most of the time it provided a good section that grew and increased the power. There was even the odd barrel for the goofies as they were sort of high and tight - a bit hard on your backhand unless you're limbs are rubber, but still plenty of fun belting the lips. We shared these waves with the local picaninnies on their rough hand made alias. These kids were amazing to watch I saw one get barrelled from start to finish of the wave and I thought he won't make this it will overtake him but they knew which line to pick and generally kept up. The younger ones were just naked and the older ones wore shorts and they were hooting and hollering too. They do this thing where they call the waves. They all make high pitched (cowboys and indians style) hoots and wobble their tongues up and down to call up a really big set for us an gave us the wave! I just wish I'd taken a camera. It was pretty surreal and a lot of fun. We'd made new friends and were playing together!

The children all spoke good English. This became apparent when we went in for lunch and handed out the twisties, they all said "thank you" without the accent of the adults. In return for the twisties the older boys climbed the coconut palms and dropped a bunch of coconuts for us to drink and eat with our lunch. This all happened without any suggestion from us. The girls in the resort's kitchen had supplied us with an esky full of food, bread, salads and fruit to make ourselves lunch. We were looked after very well when it came to food. The coconut milk was pretty good. Our new friends had demonstrated it wasn't just a one sided relationship.

I went out for another surf after a quick sandwich and some coconut juice as the water was now pretty clear while everyone ate. A couple of others came out and so did the boatie, our mate Cugga. He'd only been surfing a couple of years and had this Weber Fatburner someone had left him. He used to be a pig farmer. I didn't have to ask him what he enjoyed more. The others went in and it was just me and Cugga out there. I'd been surfing for a few hours now, at least 4 and I was getting tired so was only waiting for the sets and they just kept coming. The fact that it was a shorter paddle back out than it was in might have kept me out there longer too. You also had to pick your way in carefully through the reef to come in. It was about a 250m paddle I guess, certainly not a marathon but it was a 50m paddle back out. Eventually I'd had that many I was beginning to cease to function and could have almost had a nap out there. I caught a nice enough wave and came in while Cugga caught a couple more. We waved good bye to our new friends. There was this family outside their hut, as we waved all of them smiled with bright red betel nut stained teeth, even the younger children of 11 or 10.

It was time to hit the road and get back to home, Nusa Island for now. We loaded up the truck and smiled stupid exhausted grins at each other for the ride home in between the occasionally sleepy nod until the next bump and constant waving to all our friends along the Buliminski Highway.
Last edited by Slowman on Wed Dec 30, 2020 3:24 pm, edited 4 times in total.

Drailed
Huey's Right Hand
Posts: 22917
Joined: Tue Aug 05, 2014 11:07 am

Re: Cocunut Spray; The Niugini Experience

Post by Drailed » Mon Mar 02, 2015 12:55 pm

:B
Trev wrote:I have always had a lot of time for Dick
smnmntll wrote:Got one in the mouth once, that was pretty memorable

User avatar
BA
Duke Status
Posts: 13409
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2004 12:03 pm
Location: Mexico

Re: Cocunut Spray; The Niugini Experience

Post by BA » Mon Mar 02, 2015 2:06 pm

Yep. Keep it coming.

User avatar
Slowman
regular
Posts: 348
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 4:03 pm
Location: Garie to Voodoo

Re: Cocunut Spray; The Niugini Experience

Post by Slowman » Mon Mar 02, 2015 5:44 pm

After the road trip on Tuesday when we finally got back into camp it was almost dinner time. Each night there would be a 3 course meal of soup and breads, a main course buffet and dessert. The menu would be chalked up on the blackboard each afternoon. Soup at 7pm and dinner at around 7.30 or whenever the dinner bell went off! If nursing homes were like this I wouldn't object to the children putting me in there too soon.
Image
Image

Anyway dinner was a pretty quick affair and I went to bed at 08.30pm my room mates weren't far behind and the restaurant was deserted by 9! We'd had a couple of beers on our deck earlier and I think I might have had one more with dinner and I was floating off the edge of the ocean out into the galaxy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6r14W3tzO-4

Wednesday morning (day 4) arrived like usual with a grey twilight around 6am. There was always rain at some time during the night. I jumped on the first boat to do a reconnaissance run. Swell was predicted to hit Thursday, still no sign of it here yet, maybe late this afternoon and the winds were onshore for Ral too. Looked like another road trip on the cards. We got ourselves sorted into groups one to the right hander and one to the left. I'd spoken to Larry the night before as he'd gone with his son Matty and the young blokes to the right and it sounded all right. So I went with the young blokes who were heading down there again. They were mostly naturals everyone else were mostly goofy out of us oldies. Ryno came along for some more bonding time with his son in law Harry, as well. Ryno is a firey and so is Harry, you can see how this is all fitting together! Normally Ryno's brother Shaggy would come along, he worked at the Water Board and that was the connection to the Woonona old boys, any how he'd just had 2, not 1 but 2 hips replaced and it was a little too soon. He is just getting back into it now.

The good thing about going with the young blokes we drove down in 2 utes with cabs and got a seat. The bad thing, it was a bit squashy but not too much. The other bad thing one of them had a problem and couldn't go faster than 70km/h or it would overheat. So we set off but first we had to do a few chores in Kavieng township. Not so much us but our guides (on the island they were boaties on the land guides to keep us out of trouble and keep us from getting lost) wanted to pick up some betel nut and for some reason it seemed imperative we give a couple of girls a lift in the back of the ute from one place to another place around the corner not more than 300m away! WTF? We just laughed. Finally, after chewing the fat, buying ciggies and betel nut our guides had no more excuses to delay any longer and we got onto the highway and headed south.

We waved to the same old faces as yesterday and some others and overtook the truck with the boys heading to the left but it wasn't long before they overtook us again and of course we had to stay at 70 and they left us in their dust. We arrived at this right hander and it was pouring rain, which wasn't that big a deal except it was impossible to get changed quickly enough and keep our clothes dry. In this climate if it isn't raining you only really stay semi-dry anyway. The right was kind of average but a few OK ones were pulsing through occasionally. Again it was around 3-4'. The reef was abit shallower than yesterday's left, but then it all depended where you took off too. There was a peak on the inside offering an easyish take off before it jacked over the reef.
Image
Image
Image


There were a couple of barrels but they were tricky and the wave had a wobble in it. Apparently it was better yesterday! Funny, my compadres told me the left was better today when I got back too! It was good to surf a half decent wave frontside, I managed to get a couple of decent rides and even a good set that probably half covered me. The ride was probably not much longer than 50m but it was fun and staring down at the reef added some excitement!
Image
Image
Image
Image

Image
Cugga, one of the guides.

It rained a lot so there aren't many photos. Most of the good ones aren't mine anyway. Mine were all taken on my mobile phone! We sent the drone out and the local kids were half terrified half curious of it, and curious about us too.

On the way back we had to get petrol in town again and I kind of had a non verbal conversation with a young chap at the bowser. We were throwing thumbs up, peace signs, shakas and hang loose signs at each other. I wondered if he was going to operate the bowser but he was just curious and wanted a close up look at us. So I had to catch a snap of him.
Image

It was another successful mission and stories were told over dinner and beers and again it was an early night. Every night we had fresh seafood. I reckon every second night we had lobster tail - it doesn't get much better!
Last edited by Slowman on Wed Dec 30, 2020 3:48 pm, edited 4 times in total.

User avatar
marauding mullet
Duke Status
Posts: 11411
Joined: Sun Oct 20, 2013 9:13 pm
Location: an upside down valiant

Re: Cocunut Spray; The Niugini Experience

Post by marauding mullet » Mon Mar 02, 2015 6:06 pm

Great pic, lotta character in that young face.
petulance wrote: 01100100 01101001 01100111 01101001 01110100 01100001 01101100 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110010 01101011
Lucky Al wrote:
Fri Aug 18, 2023 10:07 pm
You're a spazz Mighty Sunbird.

User avatar
Slowman
regular
Posts: 348
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 4:03 pm
Location: Garie to Voodoo

Re: Cocunut Spray; The Niugini Experience

Post by Slowman » Tue Mar 03, 2015 3:18 pm

Lou had told us the swell should hit Thursday so we started day 5 with some anticipation of swell. There were a few takers for the morning reconnaissance boat trip. There were signs of movement it was still smallish but the swell was definitely on the rise and we had some waves in the 3' range and there was no need to go an any more road trips. We could see Piccaninnies had some swell too. The young blokes went out there and had a surf while we went out to Nago lefts after breakfast. The first surf was ok at Nagos. We came back had lunch and went for another session. It was now 4' and some even slightly bigger. the problem was that there were a couple of deeper reefs out wide which would cause the wide swells to peak up but then die down again filling up the wave. The wider ones at 3' earlier would just cause the wave to peak and break further down the reef with a really nice shape as it stood up better and ran with more speed. It seems that as it got bigger this deeper wider reef was now interfering too much with the wave and causing them to peak out wide and then fill up. So we all got intimate sitting together right up the reef waiting for the inside medium sets.

Image
Stavros gets a piccaninny barrel at Picaninnies.

Image
Image
Seiny, these photos were taken on his camera.

Image
Matty demonstrates the best way to exit Picaninnies if you aren't going to make the barrel.

Image
This picture shows how shallow it is.

Image
Harry gets a nice one.

The young guys hadn't come back for lunch yet. They commandeered their boat to take them straight across to Nusa Left which was now starting to hit its straps. Once they did get back we bolted out there for the last session. This was my first time out here and I'd heard about the nasty end to this wave and so I just a bit apprehensive. The boat anchors not far from the end section and there are these 2 nasty huge coral heads with a bunch more. You can see the wave getting boils in it as comes over this section. Out the back the waves just stands up out of deep water straight up onto the reef. The take off looked fast and challenging. Barrel, our guide said he was going to put me onto the next set and I'm thinking "not sure about this maybe more time to check things out a bit!" He pointed out this funny little wide lump and said the next one will be a drainer out wide across the reef and said to stay right where I was and then after a moment "paddle now!" At first it looked like I was too far inside but I just did as I was told. Turned out I was in the perfect spot. It's a sort of steep take off but from this spot you pick the wave up easily and get moving quickly. As the lip pitches you drop down bottom turn around the section and turn up into it and race it and then it comes out onto a good wall where you can do some turns. The wall swings around and then you are on the inside section and it can start pitching again. I headed into this one and did one turn and then I could see the boils appearing. That's enough for me and I turned up grabbed the nose and flew over the back of the wave. It's not a really long wave but it is quick and powerful.

The guides had said when the swell is right it sometimes breaks all the way from the bombie out the back. We could see waves hitting it and just closing out mostly and then filling up before coming in and breaking on this reef. That would make something like a 200m wave if that happened. Today it was something like around 70-80m roughly. Somehow after Barrel's tutelage I could always spot when a set was about to come, always after that funny little wide lump. They just seemed to rear up out of nothing. Like a dishonest stock broker insider trading, I rorted that advantage for every penny it was worth!

I was riding my 6'0 allrounder as a quad and it was just getting a little bit skaty and felt like it was on the edge of letting go. It was just on the edge of its ability to handle these waves. It was made to gain a lot of speed from average waves and had a fairly deep single to double concave. This wave didn't need a board like that. This is a wave with a bit of water in it and it had a bit of power. It was still a great session and we all had a great time and great waves without any casualties. Everyone was being quite cautious with the end section on the inside. This session was the regular crew I surfed with most times, Mick, my roomie, Warren, Ryno and Specs. Specs' real name was Matt. As it turned out we couldn't get the numbers for the full 20, we had 18 and World Surfaris had said we'd have to pay more if we didn't fill them unless we gave them back and let them throw in some extras. As it turned out Matt was an optometrist at Cronulla and was of course from the Shire. Funny how you think you can know everyone in the area, well it feels like you do after surfing it for 40 years, and the someone comes along whom none of us knew, virtually from within our midst. Anyway he fitted right in and he'll do well out of us business wise as age and presbyopia advance among us.

This wave was on for the next 2 days like this and I took my 6'5 thruster out and it went really well. A bit of extra length and a longer rail line really suited this wave and its power. Nusa Left apparently was a favourite wave of the camp owner Shaun. It was pretty popular amongst the boaties too as this is where they all surfed on their days off. There were a couple of locals in the lineup too however there were plenty of waves for everyone. It was only as the swell started to dissipate on Saturday the set rate started to slow down and the numbers started to become a factor. In any case the numbers constantly went up and down so there were still quieter times and if you were patient there were still plenty of waves.

My only room mate that wasn't there was Big Pete he had gone fishing and he scored too. So far I have not mentioned the fishing but it was pretty damn good too. I'll get to that shortly!

Here are some photos of Nusa left...
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Last edited by Slowman on Fri Jan 01, 2021 10:21 am, edited 9 times in total.

Drailed
Huey's Right Hand
Posts: 22917
Joined: Tue Aug 05, 2014 11:07 am

Re: Cocunut Spray; The Niugini Experience

Post by Drailed » Tue Mar 03, 2015 6:50 pm

That left.
Trev wrote:I have always had a lot of time for Dick
smnmntll wrote:Got one in the mouth once, that was pretty memorable

User avatar
Slowman
regular
Posts: 348
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 4:03 pm
Location: Garie to Voodoo

Re: Cocunut Spray; The Niugini Experience

Post by Slowman » Tue Mar 03, 2015 7:11 pm

Yep, Nusa Left was the jewel in the crown this trip.

User avatar
Slowman
regular
Posts: 348
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 4:03 pm
Location: Garie to Voodoo

Re: Cocunut Spray; The Niugini Experience

Post by Slowman » Thu Mar 05, 2015 2:02 pm

The Fishing! Forgive the photos, old mobile phone in the dark!
Image
Image

Now I'm not much of a fisherman. Generally speaking I do everyone a favour by not going fishing because not only do I not catch anything no one else with me does either. If I caught some it might be a different story perhaps. Anyway Big Pete scored big setting the record for this year at least with a 19kg Spanish mackerel as pictured above. He reckoned it made up for the last time he was here and didn't catch anything (while others did).

Image
Titimar weighs Pete's fish.

Image

Every night the boys went out they caught something. There were a variety of fish on offer. No one seemed to come back disappointed, if you didn't catch something yourself the size and the battle to bring these fish in still would have given you a part to play. This is what I saw them catch on Thursday night. The next night I was almost talked into into going out but after surfing Nusa Left all day once I got back on the deck of our hut and had that first beer I reckoned sitting down chewing the fat was very comfortable and so I stayed put. The boys came back with a different catch.

Image
Image
Pete surpassed himself and caught a small bronze whaler this time. It was about 5 feet in length, still big enough to leave a good sized bite mark in you!. He reckoned it near tore his genitals off...something about the rod harness not being very comfortable or padded enough. The story was that they had to club this thing for about half an hour before they could haul it aboard the boat. So I don't know why we even attempted to do a release. As you can see it just sat there on the bottom motionless. Strangely it would still move and flap a bit out of the water but as soon as we put it in it was motionless. The new camp manager Ian (Lou had to back home to take care of some business) identified it as female and pregnant!

It was decided to cut it up and give it to the villagers. Some villagers actually live on the island beyond the confines of the resort. There is actually a fence with a locked gate. Every time you go for a walk up towards that gate the camp dogs come running in the hope that you are going to let them through the gate. All so they can fight the other dogs on the island! Anyway, this sharked kicked again it was being cut up. The fins were removed for sale for the Asian market and the rest was cut into pieces to be spread amongst the villagers. There were indeed 4 young sharks inside and they were developed enough, possibly a foot long each, to release. We placed them in the water and with a little coaxing they swam off. Hell it's not everyday you get to see that!

The catches the rest of the time were still good but being a fair weather sailor, Melbourne Cup day only punter, Monday morning expert and general all round jump on the bandwagon type, I didn't take that much interest and can hardly remember if anyone went out anyway! I can tell you we did have good waves for the next 2 days.
Last edited by Slowman on Fri Jan 01, 2021 10:28 am, edited 5 times in total.

Almighty God
regular
Posts: 362
Joined: Tue Dec 17, 2013 7:27 pm

Re: Cocunut Spray; The Niugini Experience

Post by Almighty God » Thu Mar 05, 2015 4:04 pm

did you try the betel nuts?

User avatar
Slowman
regular
Posts: 348
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 4:03 pm
Location: Garie to Voodoo

Re: Cocunut Spray; The Niugini Experience

Post by Slowman » Sun Mar 08, 2015 5:01 pm

I think I tried betel nut in Taiwan long ago - not really my thing. One of the guys tried the betel nut as was a bit spaced out by it. I guess the one thing about Air Niugini is while they may not get you there on time they do seem to have passenger safety as their number one priority and don't take risks - not a bad thing for an airline.

We surfed Nusa Left for the next 2 days extracting as much as we could from it until there was no more. As the swell dropped we fell back on Nago left which seemed to line up better as the swell dropped back to around 3 feet. By this stage we were well satisfied with the surf. There were a few other interesting things to do apart from fishing and surfing and these options were starting to have more appeal as the surf dropped.

There were a few WWII relics around and you could do a bit of a historic tour that the guides would take you on past big artillery guns and a Japanese war plane wreck that you can dive down to. I was going to do it but the day turned out to be quite hot and doing this in the middle of the day became far less appealing than cooling off with another surf.

Maybe next time, the swell was slowly dropping and it stayed around the 2-3' mark for the last couple of days and was still fun. We did do a trip to Ral Island and got off the boat and had a walk around on it. It is probably only the size of a football field. It had some interesting reef and coral formations on it. The currents around this island always seem to be pretty strong and just manouvering the boat to get in took some finesse.

By the time the last day came I was ready to come home. It was idyllic at first and walking around in bare feet all day seemed like being part of a paradise escape and the quaint irony of showering and getting all clean just to walk out of the showers and get sandy feet all over again was starting to lose its charm. As a surfer for almost 48 years it may seem strange but I really hate sand!

I was looking forward to returning to a bed without sand and having a loo a few steps from my bed again and not having to go through the repeated regimen of constantly reapplying insect repellant. The mosquitoes didn't seem too bad but you need to take precautions because it is a malaria zone. The Bushman's repellant was popular. I had brought along the one that cam in the green tubes which doubles as both repellant and sun screen. As a sunscreen it was OK but the zinc is hard to beat and after a few days I found myself reaching for it. The Bushman's also seems to heat your skin up a bit, just the thing after a shower when feeling dry, cool and clean to get that sweaty goiter neck feeling back again.

Coming home was good and the waves were firing!

Almighty God
regular
Posts: 362
Joined: Tue Dec 17, 2013 7:27 pm

Re: Cocunut Spray; The Niugini Experience

Post by Almighty God » Sun Mar 08, 2015 7:41 pm

I had a bit of fun on the betel nuts...well the locals had a bit of fun...at my expense!

I came in from a really fun surf, and all the natives at the village in front of the break seemed pretty stoked to see surfers, and wanted a chat when we came in. It was such a cool vibe...all these cute kids calling us wally wallys and wanting to carry our boards. They had a betel nut stall on the road...I had 10 bucks or so...and we were waiting around for our bus to pick us up. So I decided it was my shout at the bar, and told the guy at the stall to give me as many betel nuts as my money would get me...which turned out to be a fair bit...so I told all the locals to help themselves.

They passed them around to me and my five companions...who all bailed on me...so I guess I felt I had to man up on my own.

I remember when I was about six and my neighbour and I stole a few ciggies off my mum...no idea, scared, and way out of my depth...but wanting to impress...I thought you had to blow through the end...thats what made the thing burn at the other end...so seconds later I am coughing and spluttering all over the place. It was a bit similar. I knew you chewed it and spat it out, but didnt realise you had to spit it all out...so I swallowed some of it. Aww man I knew in about 5 seconds that was a big mistake...within a few minutes I was coughing and spluttering, spewing my guts up...it still felt like I had a golf ball stuck in my throat for the next few hours. All the locals were rolling on the ground laughing at me

After relieving myself of my lunch and breakfast...I started to experience the effects of the nuts. Hard to describe...maybe a bit like a strong caffeine hit...it was pretty subtle...definitely didnt feel a big rush or anything...just found myself super happy...being really load and animated...laughing and smiling easily...it didnt last very long I dont think...maybe half an hour

They say it has no adverse side effects...but I am pretty sure a disgusting taste and a mouth full of red teeth would stop me from partaking regularly. It was a pretty fun experience though

andy2476
Owl status
Posts: 4659
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2013 12:51 pm

Re: Cocunut Spray; The Niugini Experience

Post by andy2476 » Sun Mar 08, 2015 8:13 pm

Great posts slow man, those sort of trips are great fun for sure. It's great you can appreciate the locals too,

But it's seems a hell of a lot of hassle to surf a 1/3 of box head.

Obviously all the other stuff adds. He'll blokes do that trip just to catch fish.
Drailed wrote:
#goteamiggy

andy2476
Owl status
Posts: 4659
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2013 12:51 pm

Re: Cocunut Spray; The Niugini Experience

Post by andy2476 » Sun Mar 08, 2015 9:27 pm

Might be a good time to go back over your posts and see what you've contributed
Drailed wrote:
#goteamiggy

User avatar
Slowman
regular
Posts: 348
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 4:03 pm
Location: Garie to Voodoo

Re: Cocunut Spray; The Niugini Experience

Post by Slowman » Mon Mar 09, 2015 9:17 am

andy2476 wrote:Great posts slow man, those sort of trips are great fun for sure. It's great you can appreciate the locals too,

But it's seems a hell of a lot of hassle to surf a 1/3 of box head.

Obviously all the other stuff adds. He'll blokes do that trip just to catch fish.
Yes you can find local waves just as good if not better but rarely as uncrowded. Like you say though Andy2476 the "other stuff" adds. For me the travel factor adds that extra element of novelty/stoke to any wave I find. For me it makes an average wave a good wave, or put another way a good experience or good surf, surfing an average wave. At home it's just an average experience punctuated with thoughts about all that other stuff like getting home in time to get the kids off to soccer, getting the garage door fixed, mowing lawns and all that other minutae of ordinary life. The getaway factor helps clear the mind (of the problems of the first world) at least while away. Anyway, if we'd got Long Longs working I think that would possibly surpass anything much I've surfed back home 300-400m they say when it works! Imagine Greenmount breaking all the way to Kirra and getting barrelled on the Kirra section. Greenmount itself was a long wave when I surfed it years ago.

The other thing I wanted to say about PNG is the SAPNG surf management plan http://www.sapng.com/surf-management-plan under Niugini customary law the reefs are owned by the local tribe and so access needs to arranged. The plan purports among other things to keep a limit on surf numbers. For the time being I can see this working. At the moment it seems to work in favour of the camp and tour operators providing almost exclusive access, the way Fiji used to work. However as more and more locals take up surfing just like Fiji I can't see it continuing forever. For the moment though there are uncrowded waves. Our boat guides all surfed and some of them are quite good. For the time being their job apparently is to let us have any wave we want even if that means us dropping in on them. I for one couldn't and didn't, not after the way they put us into some of the waves and gave us all the secrets about where to sit and what to look for. Besides to some extent I pride myself and being able to fend for myself in any line up (well those I choose to paddle out in).

One of the guests had a word to one our guides that was getting a bit too excited and taking some good sets, the bugger had also dropped in a couple of times too so it was warranted. Mind you he was one of the less experienced surfers and at times was a little "dangerous". While the guide did tone it down I bet he was saying "ipskin" under his breath. I don't want to feel like some kind of over privileged tourist, besides I think for the long term it might create a bit of resentment, but where do you draw the line? It wouldn't matter that the ethnic background of the guide is irrelevant but I don't think that is how it would be perceived up here. We did come across one white guide on our return flight, he had come from Lissenung Island and was going home for a break, but generally the guides from what I have seen are locals. So it could easily be seen in terms of us and them. I suppose regardless of their backgrounds the guides at any surf resort have to share the waves around. You certainly don't want guides that snake and use their local knowledge to take every good wave leaving the guests with none. That won't do the business much good. I guess like all things there is a balance and when it is right it works for everyone. What has been the experience of others?
Last edited by Slowman on Thu Dec 07, 2017 10:42 am, edited 5 times in total.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests